Shang dynasty

The Shang dynasty (1766-1045 BC) was the second dynasty to rule China, taking power after the overthrowing of King Jie of Xia and the end of the Xia dynasty. The Shang are the first confirmed dynasty, as the historical reality of the Xia is disputed. In 1045 BC, the Battle of Muye resulted in the fall of the Song and the rise of the Zhou dynasty.

History
Little is known about how the Shang rose to dominance around 1766 BC, since written documents appear only toward the end of Shang rule. These documents are the so-called oracle bones, the shoulder bones of cattle and the bottom shells of turtles employed by Shang rulers to obtain information from ancestral spirits and gods. The Shang writing system has hundreds of characters, and it is the ancestor of most East Asian languages. Only a small number of people at the Shang court used the system.

The Shang worshipped the supreme god Di and their ancestors, and they believed that Di appointed the emperors of their dynasty. The king was often on the road, traveling to reinfoce the loyalty of his subordinates at their courts. The Shand elite were a warrior class great with warfare, hunting, gifts, feasting, and drinking, fighting with bronze weapons and riding on chariots. Frequent campaigns yielded considerable plunder for the Shang, who took many prisoners of war that were used as slaves and sacrificial victims.

Shang China was wealthy, with Shang royal and elite tombs containing valuables of metal, jade, bone, ivory, shell, and stone such as jewelry, musical instruments, mirrors, weapons, and bronze vessels. The vessels depicted real and imaginary animals to make offerings to the gods. When a king died, family members, servants, and prisoners of war were executed to serve the king in the afterlife. In the mid-eleventh century BC, the Shang were overthrown by the Zhou, whose homeland lay several hundred miles to the west in the valley of the Wei River. At the Battle of Muye in 1046 BC, King Zhou of Shang was defeated by Wu of Zhou, and he committed suicide.